Qatada ibn Idris
Encyclopedia
Qatada ibn Idris al-Alawi al-Hasani was the Sharif of Mecca
, reigning from 1201 to 1220. He also founded the Banu Qatada dynasty and established a tradition of sharifs descended from him to rule Mecca
which lasted until the office was abolished in 1925.
—held a considerable estate since the Umayyad
era. Without seeking permission from the Ayyubids who controlled the area, Qatada went on and subdued most of the Hejaz. He maintained a garrisoned fortress in Yanbu which made it possible to exact a good share of the profits of the Red Sea
trade as it stopped at this port before proceeding to Egypt. Qatada may have taken part in the defense of Medina against the expeditionary Crusader
force launched by Raynald of Châtillon
.
i princes, Medina
-based sharifs, and the Ayyubids under Sayf al-Islam, fought for control of the city which was governed by Amir Mikhtar. In 1200-01, the notables of Mecca chose Qatada, one of their own, to rule in Mikhtar's place. Qatada was recognized by the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, al-Kamil
, as the emir
of Mecca. Possession of the Emirate of Mecca did not quench Qatada's ambitions and his power soon extended into Medina and Ta'if, as well as parts of Najd
and Yemen
. Dutch
historian Snouck Hurgronje referred to him as a "political genius".
In 1205, Qatada and the Sharif of Medina, Salim ibn Qasim al-Husayni came into conflict. Each had gathered a large army fought at a site just outside Medina. After visiting and praying at Muhammad
's chamber, Qatada proceeded to meet Salim who drove him back and pursued Qatada to Mecca. Salim besieged him there, but Qatada sent letters to Salim's commanders suborning them and the commanders inclined to support Qatada. After realizing this, Salim withdrew back to Medina, and Qatada's position in the region strengthened.
Qatada's actions troubled the Abbasid
caliph in Baghdad
and the Ayyubid sultan in Cairo
, as well as from Yemen. Challenges from those authorities came at the time of the annual Hajj
to Mecca when caravans of pilgrims from Cairo, Baghdad, and Damascus
were accompanied by whatever number of troops the caliph or sultan deemed necessary to deliver a message to Qatada. In 1212, an assassination attempt on Qatada occurred during the Hajj. Qatada suspected the Abbasids were behind the plot and ordered his Nubia
n slave troops to attack the Iraqi caravan, although they had already fled to join the Syrian caravan where they gained protection from Saladin
's mother. Qatada demanded a compensation of 100,000 dinar
s for calling off the attack on the caravan and when Saladin's mother could only raise 30,000 dinars, Qatada desisted nonetheless, but promised to kill any pilgrim coming from Baghdad in the following year.
s kill him. The news outraged Qatada who vowed to have his son killed.
One of Qatada's men informed Hasan of the situation, and so he rode back to Mecca to confront his father. After ordering the large gathering outside Qatada's residence to leave for their own dwellings, Hasan met his father who reprimanded him. He turned on him and throttled him on the spot. He left the residence to inform the townspeople that his father was very ill and then recalled the local leaders of Mecca to tell them that Qatada was dead. According to this account, subsequently he brought out a coffin and buried it to give onlookers the impression that Qatada died of natural causes, but Hasan had his father secretly buried beforehand. The power accumulated by Qatada remained in the hands of his descendants from his death to the abdication of Ali ibn Hussein
.
Sharif of Mecca
The Sharif of Mecca or Hejaz was the title of the former governors of Hejaz and a traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
, reigning from 1201 to 1220. He also founded the Banu Qatada dynasty and established a tradition of sharifs descended from him to rule Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
which lasted until the office was abolished in 1925.
Early life
Qatada was born in the seaport city of Yanbu, where his family—who descended from Hasan ibn AliHasan ibn Ali
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib is an important figure in Islam, the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. Hasan is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa...
—held a considerable estate since the Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
era. Without seeking permission from the Ayyubids who controlled the area, Qatada went on and subdued most of the Hejaz. He maintained a garrisoned fortress in Yanbu which made it possible to exact a good share of the profits of the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
trade as it stopped at this port before proceeding to Egypt. Qatada may have taken part in the defense of Medina against the expeditionary Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
force launched by Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Chatillon
Raynald of Châtillon was a knight who served in the Second Crusade and remained in the Holy Land after its defeat...
.
Sharif of Mecca
From the Ayyubid takeover of Mecca in 1175 to 1200, IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i princes, Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
-based sharifs, and the Ayyubids under Sayf al-Islam, fought for control of the city which was governed by Amir Mikhtar. In 1200-01, the notables of Mecca chose Qatada, one of their own, to rule in Mikhtar's place. Qatada was recognized by the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, al-Kamil
Al-Kamil
Al-Kamil was a Kurdish Ayyubid sultan who ruled North Africa. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated two crusades. In a temporary agreement with the Crusaders, he ceded Jerusalem to the Christians.-Biography:He was the son of sultan al-Adil, a brother of Saladin...
, as the emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
of Mecca. Possession of the Emirate of Mecca did not quench Qatada's ambitions and his power soon extended into Medina and Ta'if, as well as parts of Najd
Najd
Najd or Nejd , literally Highland, is the central region of the Arabian Peninsula.-Boundaries :The Arabic word nejd literally means "upland" and was once applied to a variety of regions within the Arabian Peninsula...
and Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
historian Snouck Hurgronje referred to him as a "political genius".
In 1205, Qatada and the Sharif of Medina, Salim ibn Qasim al-Husayni came into conflict. Each had gathered a large army fought at a site just outside Medina. After visiting and praying at Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
's chamber, Qatada proceeded to meet Salim who drove him back and pursued Qatada to Mecca. Salim besieged him there, but Qatada sent letters to Salim's commanders suborning them and the commanders inclined to support Qatada. After realizing this, Salim withdrew back to Medina, and Qatada's position in the region strengthened.
Qatada's actions troubled the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
caliph in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
and the Ayyubid sultan in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, as well as from Yemen. Challenges from those authorities came at the time of the annual Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
to Mecca when caravans of pilgrims from Cairo, Baghdad, and Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
were accompanied by whatever number of troops the caliph or sultan deemed necessary to deliver a message to Qatada. In 1212, an assassination attempt on Qatada occurred during the Hajj. Qatada suspected the Abbasids were behind the plot and ordered his Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
n slave troops to attack the Iraqi caravan, although they had already fled to join the Syrian caravan where they gained protection from Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
's mother. Qatada demanded a compensation of 100,000 dinar
Dinar
The dinar is the official currency of several countries.The history of the dinar dates to the gold dinar, an early Islamic coin corresponding to the Byzantine denarius auri...
s for calling off the attack on the caravan and when Saladin's mother could only raise 30,000 dinars, Qatada desisted nonetheless, but promised to kill any pilgrim coming from Baghdad in the following year.
Death
In 1220, Qatada was smothered to death in his bedclothes by his son Hasan at age 90. According to Ibn al-Athir, Qatada, who had been feeling sickly, assembled any army led by his brother and Hasan to march towards Medina. When they camped near the city, Hasan had heard that his uncle said to the troops that Qatada was ill and nearing his death and made them swear their loyalty to him shall Qatada die. Hasan came to his uncle's presence and had his mamlukMamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s kill him. The news outraged Qatada who vowed to have his son killed.
One of Qatada's men informed Hasan of the situation, and so he rode back to Mecca to confront his father. After ordering the large gathering outside Qatada's residence to leave for their own dwellings, Hasan met his father who reprimanded him. He turned on him and throttled him on the spot. He left the residence to inform the townspeople that his father was very ill and then recalled the local leaders of Mecca to tell them that Qatada was dead. According to this account, subsequently he brought out a coffin and buried it to give onlookers the impression that Qatada died of natural causes, but Hasan had his father secretly buried beforehand. The power accumulated by Qatada remained in the hands of his descendants from his death to the abdication of Ali ibn Hussein
Ali of Hejaz
Ali bin Hussein, GBE was King of Hejaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca from October 1924 until December 1925. He was the eldest son of Sharif Hussein bin Ali, the first modern King of Hejaz, and a scion of the Hashemite family...
.